Слово "whet". Англо-русский словарь Мюллера

These fragments of nourishment served only to whet my hunger.

Also, he had become used to a higher standard of living, and he had whetted his wits to razor sharpness in the fierce, complicated struggle of fighting males.

The public, at once raising a desperate cry, shrank back from the confectionery department, running down the no longer needed Pavel Yosifovich, and from behind the fish counter the sales clerks with their whetted knives trotted in single file towards the door of the rear exit.

Then she began to whet her knife.

The little chicks had no more than whetted his appetite.

These things whet appetite.”

He ate thoughtfully as a dog eats after taking his food into a safe corner, and he thought how easy it was to whet human desires and how difficult it was to satisfy them once aroused.